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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Closing section of a movement.






2. A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.






3. A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase - either in the middle or the end of a composition.






4. Often used in overtures - a composition that uses passages from other movements of the composition in its entirety.






5. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






6. Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously.






7. Passage for the entire ensemble or orchestra without a soloist.






8. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.






9. An important characteristic of the Romantic period. It is a style where the strict tempo is temporarily abandoned for a more emotional tone.






10. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






11. The unit of musical rhythm.






12. A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.






13. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






14. A reprise.






15. The opening section of a piece of music or movement.






16. Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional - flowery music; written in strict form.






17. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






18. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






19. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






20. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






21. A portion of the range of the instrument or voice.






22. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.






23. Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats.






24. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






25. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.






26. A quick - improvisational - spirited piece of music.






27. A whole note is equal to 2 half notes - 4 quarter notes - 8 eighth notes - etc.






28. The movement of chords in succession.






29. Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.






30. The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note.






31. A composition written for eight instruments.






32. Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.






33. The study of forms - history - science - and methods of music.






34. A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.






35. A direction to play expressively.






36. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






37. When several strings are tuned to harmonically related pitches - all strings vibrate when only one of the strings is struck.






38. Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.






39. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






40. A melodic or - sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form.






41. A string of chords played in succession.






42. A musical form where the principal theme is repeated several times. The rondo was often used for the final movements of classical sonata form works.






43. A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence.






44. Refers to any great composer - conductor - or teacher of music.






45. A musical style characterized as excessive - ornamental - and trivial.






46. Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously.






47. Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats.






48. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






49. A dance written in triple time - where the accent falls on the first beat of each measure.






50. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.






Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?



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